Chapter Thirty-Six: Feeding Medicine
Jiang Chuan leaned against a corner of the elevator car, one hand resting on the handrail. His long, narrow eyes were still flushed from the fever, but he was much clearer than he had been in the car.
Lin Yu stared at the constantly changing numbers on the electronic screen in the subway car, her mind preoccupied with the subway she was about to miss. "Are you sure you can manage on your own? I'm going to miss the subway," she said tactfully to Jiang Chuan.
The elevator stopped at the target floor, and the door opened with a soft ding.
Jiang Chuan straightened up and stepped out of the elevator. Then he turned and quietly looked at Lin Yu, who was huddled in the corner of the car, holding the notebook he had saved from the storm. There was a bag of wet clothes on the ground.
The elevator doors, sensing no one entering or exiting, began to mechanically close, leaving the two in a silent standoff as the doors slowly closed. Just as the doors were about to shut, Jiang Chuan suddenly reached out and braced himself against the door frame, causing the sensors to beep in protest.
"Just stay here for the night, I'll drive you there tomorrow morning." His voice was as hoarse as sandpaper, but his arm, which was supporting the door frame, remained motionless like a branding iron. The metal door frame swayed unwillingly in his palm, like a clam whose shell was being squeezed.
He also held Lin Yu's heart in his grasp, which was pounding wildly. Her will wavered unconsciously, and she maintained a basic level of wariness towards this man she barely knew.
But at this moment, his pale lips and the bloodstains on the gauze seemed like a thin rope strangling her throat, preventing her from uttering a single word of refusal.
"One should be grateful for kindness received," she kept repeating to herself. If it weren't for protecting her, he wouldn't have been injured like this. And now, with his high fever still lingering, leaving him alone at home was indeed cruel.
“There are guest rooms at home.” Jiang Chuan suddenly coughed, his Adam’s apple bobbing violently. “Or are you worried that I might do something to you?” He then raised his injured arm and waved it in front of Lin Yu.
The clumsy but effective provocation successfully hit Lin Yu's weak spot, and she finally gave in to him, stepping out of the elevator.
Jiang Chuan's house was exactly as Lin Yu had imagined. The moment he pushed open the door, Lin Yu felt as if he had stepped into a showroom of a high-end residential complex.
The black, white, and gray color scheme echoes the cold cityscape and river view outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, making the Huangpu River at night resemble a specimen encased in a glass case. The neat patterns of the ceiling lights are reflected on the Italian gray marble floor.
All the items were placed in their proper places in an orderly manner, making the space seem as if it were under some kind of special restriction.
Lin Yu even suspected that Jiang Chuan could accurately tell the purpose and location of the items inside any closed cabinet door, no matter which one he stood in front of.
The whole house's circulating water energy management system keeps the room at a constant temperature of 26 degrees Celsius all year round, even without air conditioning. It's warm and comfortable, but lifeless. Lin Yu could even smell the odor of medical alcohol and disinfectant.
This apartment, like its owner, is breathtakingly perfect. It's a lawyer's home, a home devoid of human warmth but possessing an absolute sense of order.
Lin Yu kicked off her high heels and stepped barefoot onto the cold marble floor. Her backpack and wet clothes were casually tossed aside in the entryway.
"The guest rooms are on the right," Jiang Chuan's voice came from behind, hoarse from illness. "Put on your slippers first."
Lin Yu placed the bag of medicine and the laptop on the coffee table. Returning to the entryway, he saw Jiang Chuan using his weak, sickly fingers to adjust the crooked decorative painting in the entryway, ensuring that the frame of the abstract oil painting was perfectly parallel to the wall.
She leaned against the entryway with one hand, sinking her feet into oversized slippers as if walking on two clumsy sailboats. "Where are the plastic wrap and medicine?"
Jiang Chuan casually pointed towards the kitchen and TV cabinet, but his gaze involuntarily fell on her feet, which were hiding in her slippers and had nowhere to go. He watched as her toes curled up unconsciously, as if afraid of stepping into thin air.
"The shoes are a bit big. Sorry, I don't have any women's slippers here." He said, estimating Lin Yu's size. "Do you wear size 36?"
"Thirty-seven!" Lin Yu laughed nonchalantly. "Anyway, I won't be coming anymore. Just remember your future girlfriend's shoe size." With that, he turned and walked towards the kitchen.
Jiang Chuan bent down and neatly arranged the two shoes that Lin Yu had kicked askew. He then picked up the bag containing the wet clothes, hesitated for a moment at the door of the laundry room, and gently placed the bag by the door.
A wave of dizziness washed over him, making his vision go black. He took two steps toward the sofa, supporting himself against the wall, but subconsciously looked down at his half-dry shirt, frowned, and turned to walk toward the kitchen.
He took a bottle of ice water from the refrigerator, tilted his head back and gulped down a few mouthfuls. The cool liquid slid down his burning throat and finally made him feel a little better.
His tie had long since come undone, and he casually ripped it off. His slender fingers, with a hint of impatience and agitation, unbuttoned the buttons that were pressing against his throat.
Jiang Chuan held the bottle between his thumb and forefinger, let his arm hang down, leaned against the refrigerator door, his shoulder pressed against the cold metal door, and looked towards the kitchen with his eyes half-closed.
A few strands of wet black hair clung to his forehead, which he casually swept behind his head with his hand. His gaze followed Lin Yu the whole time, and soon he saw her walking towards him with plastic wrap and a large waterproof bandage.
"Why don't you go sit over there?" Lin Yu was startled by Jiang Chuan standing behind him, took a step back, and pointed towards the sofa.
"I'm waiting for you to come and care about me." Jiang Chuan's chest rose and fell erratically with his rapid breathing. His soaked clothes were half-dry from the heat of his body, and the blood-stained shirt clung to his burning skin, giving him a dangerous, lustful look.
Lin Yu was visibly taken aback when she heard his words. She pulled out a bar stool, sat down, placed the prepared items on the counter, and gestured with her chin towards Jiang Chuan. "Put this on before showering, then wrap it with several layers of cling film."
Jiang Chuan sat down next to her, the two facing each other, knee to knee. Lin Yu lowered her head to roll up his sleeve, her fingertips inadvertently brushing against his burning skin. "The wound can't get wet, to avoid infection."
She explained patiently, her voice softer than usual, as if she were taking care of a kindergarten child. Jiang Chuan had never seen Lin Yu so gentle and patient before, and simply watched quietly, remaining silent for a moment.
Lin Yu gestured a couple of times on his arm wrapped in gauze, realizing that the band-aid was useless, so he turned around, picked up some plastic wrap, unfolded it, and wrapped it around his arm inside and out a dozen times.
After a careful examination, she raised her hand and touched Jiang Chuan's forehead with the back of her hand. Seeing that it was still burning hot, a trace of worry flashed in her eyes. "He has a fever. No, he needs to take fever-reducing medicine first."
Lin Yu suddenly jumped off the chair and walked quickly towards the living room. He knelt down in front of the coffee table, his knees sinking into the soft, long-pile blanket.
Jiang Chuan followed behind her, casually sitting on the edge of the TV cabinet, his eyes lowered as he watched her back. The hem of her tracksuit lifted slightly as she rummaged through the cabinet, revealing a glimpse of her waistline.
Lin Yu knelt down, glanced at the instructions on the fever reducer bottle, unscrewed the cap, poured the pills into his hand, and turned to hand them to Jiang Chuan.
Jiang Chuan looked down at Lin Yu, who was kneeling between his legs. The collar of his tracksuit was slightly open, and the skirt was piled up in the middle of his thighs due to his kneeling posture, revealing a small patch of fair and translucent skin on the inside of his thighs.
His gaze slid from her wet eyes to her slightly parted lips. She held up two white pills in her hand like a summoning banner, presenting them to him. This made his Adam's apple bob involuntarily.
The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds. "What's wrong?"
Jiang Chuan's prolonged silence made Lin Yu sense the subtle change in the atmosphere. She subconsciously stepped back, but her injured arm moved faster, its palm suddenly gripping her wrist and pulling her whole body towards him.
Lin Yu's fingertips trembled, and she instinctively tried to pull her hand out of his palm.
"Don't move."
Jiang Chuan tightened his knuckles, aggravating his wound and causing him to wince in pain. Lin Yu gave up struggling, letting him lean closer, his hot breath brushing against the fine lines of her palm first, like a warning of some kind of danger.
Two pale lips, surprisingly warm, pressed against his palm and rolled up the pills. Jiang Chuan swallowed the pills with the remaining half-bottle of ice water, tilting his head back.
Condensed water droplets dripped from the bottom of the bottle onto Lin Yu's bare knees, sliding down his skin and leaving dark stains on the blanket.
Lin Yu was startled to realize that her wrist was still trapped in his burning palm. Jiang Chuan slowly released his fingers, his fingertips lightly brushing against the pale blue veins on the back of her hand, as if leaving an invisible mark on his prey.
His moist lips were like a self-aware radiant substance; the scalding sensation spread across Lin Yu's palm, as if a million ants were scattering and crawling.
She could even feel the softness of his lips during those brief few seconds of contact, almost like a simulated kiss.
Her heart was pounding, her cheeks were flushed, and her mind felt like a green train was rumbling through her head, causing her fragile nerves to sway back and forth like an autumn rice field. She looked more like a patient than Jiang Chuan.
The instigator, however, showed no remorse and added fuel to the fire in Lin Yu's burning heart, making the flames burn even more fiercely.
Jiang Chuan calmly began to unbutton his shirt, moving slowly and gracefully from top to bottom. The outline of his powerful abdominal muscles was faintly visible through the gaps in his shirt. Lin Yu only glanced at him before alarm bells went off, and he grabbed Jiang Chuan's mischievous fingers.
What are you doing?
Jiang Chuan looked down at Lin Yu's slender, delicate fingers tightly gripping his, and chuckled teasingly. "Didn't you tell me to take a shower? How can I shower without taking off my clothes?"
"Oh." Lin Yu blinked rapidly, glancing away, his mouth dry and his desire unbearable. "Then...then go inside and take your clothes off. I...I don't want to see."
For 25-year-old Lin Yu, this was the first time she had ever seen a man undress in front of her at such close range. This was much more direct than those adult content bloggers on Douyin.
Fortunately, he didn't have to rely on seafaring to make a living, and Lin Yu was genuinely worried for them.
This man, whom I've only met four times, was covered in blood, soaking wet, with moist lips and his long, upturned eyes burning red.
Her eyes, however, were unusually clear due to the high fever, like a drawn sword pressed against Lin Yu's heart. The moonlight streaming in through the French windows seemed to be smilingly scrutinizing him like a leopard poised to pounce.
At this moment, all of this transformed into a tangible temptation, like the tide crashing against the rocks, stirring Lin Yu's fragile heart. She felt a dampness rising from her stomach, and a light drizzle began to fall in her heart.
"Oh? You don't like looking? You like touching?"
Jiang Chuan's voice was low and hot from the high fever, with a barely perceptible hoarseness. "Otherwise, why would you hold my hand so tightly?"
Lin Yu turned around and her ears instantly burned bright red. She then realized that she was still tightly gripping Jiang Chuan's fingers as he unbuttoned his shirt. Their fingertips were intertwined in an ambiguous way, and from a certain angle, it looked as if they were holding something very intimate.
She recoiled as if electrocuted, turned away, and awkwardly dumped all the medicine boxes from the bag onto the coffee table, using the clattering sound to mask her embarrassment as she arranged them neatly like dominoes. "I was worried you'd catch a cold."
Jiang Chuan rested one elbow on his knee, leaning closer, and Lin Yu felt his back burning from the scorching air. "Help me!"
She was somewhat dazed and didn't understand Jiang Chuan's intention for a moment. She turned around and was only two fists away from Jiang Chuan.
His skin was a delicate, pale white, his nose was high and straight, his eyelashes were long and thick, each one distinct, and his dark eyes were fixed on him like a deep, dark vortex. Lin Yu felt his willpower crumbling inch by inch.
"I can't take it off with one hand." His breath sprayed onto Lin Yu's cheek, and she squinted, unable to tell if he was trying to seduce her.
......
The sound of water came from the master bathroom. Lin Yu sat alone in the living room. The romantic atmosphere from before gradually dissipated, and reason returned. Thinking of what Jiang Chuan had said before he went to take a shower, she awkwardly clenched the sofa cushion and punched it hard.
"Weren't you honest in Feicheng? You've learned to lie since you got back to Shanghai?" Jiang Chuan's tone became hot and viscous due to his fever and the excessively close proximity, revealing a barely perceptible victor's smile.
Just then, his phone, which was on the coffee table, suddenly rang, its abrupt buzz echoing off the glass surface. The screen lit up, and Lin Yu glanced at it instinctively. It was an unfamiliar number without a contact name, but the last three digits, six, were particularly easy to remember.
She looked away, didn't think about it, and turned to walk towards the second bedroom.
Several brand-new white shirts hung in the closet. Lin Yu took one out and held it up in front of the mirror; the hem just covered her thighs. She stuffed her wet clothes and the skirt she had changed out of into the washing machine and went into the bathroom next to the second bedroom.
The bathroom was clearly unoccupied, with unopened toiletries neatly arranged on the shelves.
Lin Yu's makeup was mostly washed away by the storm. As the hot water sprayed from the showerhead, she tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and ran her fingers through her hair, letting out a satisfied sigh.
In the steamy bathroom, she vigorously rubbed her cheeks. The foam from the facial cleanser washed away the last trace of makeup, and her fatigue vanished.
She took a hot shower, carefully dried her underwear with a hairdryer, and cleaned the bathroom inside and out before getting dressed and going out.
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